By Ankit Ojha, May 8, 2009 - 01:08 IST 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I am, of all honesty, no fan of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s acclaimed novella, and I didn’t like either of the movie remakes in Hindi that I had seen so far. With the last remake being Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s mega epic, which starred Shah Rukh Khan as the lead character, I began wondering at the staleness of the storyline, that has remained stagnant despite the emergence of the 21st Century. Later, I watched Farhan Akhtar’s slick remake of the 1978 movie DON, and I started pondering over it, thinking that if Farhan could bring this movie to the 21st Century by changing its style, then maybe someone could even bring DEVDAS and present it to the youth in a different style – maybe even the whole crowd. Enter Anurag Kashyap – the guy who can do anything to bring his movies to true (and sometimes bitter) light. I had faith in the director after his first movie BLACK FRIDAY. Later, he released NO SMOKING, and maybe people didn’t like it, but I sat through the film and realized that it might not have been one of his finest works, but it was different – and it had a possibly strange message to convey. Out then comes the music of his new movie, DEV D, which, some people had told me, was a parody on the original Devdas. I had not expected anything of the music of DEV D, but listening to it completely blew my mind. And I knew I WAS going to catch up with this movie, somehow. Unfortunately, I NEVER caught up with the movie in the cinemas, but got the DVD. And a few days ago, I watched it. And what did I find? That the movie was the most satisfying and spellbinding experience out of the recent trash in Bollywood being released, is the most precise opinion I can give of it.
I believe Anurag Kashyap is one of the most straightforward directors in Indian cinema. His new flick, DEV D, pulls out all the stops, replaces whisky with drugs and vodka, dancers with prostitutes, and everything else with everything else et al. It is ofcourse a risky proposition, but Anurag has given out a convincing and believable portrayal, which worked!
What I liked about the movie:
Abhay Deol has certainly undergone a change of image since his debut, SOCHA NA THA. He has never kept his image constant and stagnant. He has always tried something new, and it always turned out to be in his favor. Flicks like EK CHALIS KI LAST LOCAL and MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER have been in the best of the lot of performances he had before this movie, in which, I can safely say, he has made his career best performance. And he should be proud of it. He has surely done a class act this time – bang on!
Mahie Gill is first-rate. She should now be a little more choosy on he offers though.
Out of the girls, Kalki has turned out the strongest performance ever. Fantastic, for a debutante. She has pulled the right heartstrings in me.
The chemistry between Dev and Chanda is as real as life goes. It is fantastic.
The lighting is perfect. A certain color range has been given to a certain main character. Dev’s is bluish, Chanda’s is pinkish, and Paro’s turns out to be more on the greener side.
Editing and compositing has been well done. Brownie points for the scenes where Dev is shown drinking a lot. Rather than ellipses, they have increased the speed of the scenes and given it a blur effect, which is brilliant.
Also the fact that each character has been treated like a chapter in the movie is a pretty new concept, and has worked out fantabulously.
What I didn't like about the movie:
It's very rare for me not to dislike anything in the movie. The last time, it was JODHAA AKBAR and A WEDNESDAY! This time, it is this movie.
Would you recommend this movie to your friend: Yes
